22 November 2021
CropLife Australia, in partnership with the Australian Seed Federation, has announced Australia’s first not-for-profit, whole-of-industry, genuine collection and recycling program for agricultural bags, bagMUSTER.
Plastic packaging plays an essential role in Australia’s agricultural industry by protecting pesticide, seed and other ag products for transport, use and storage. Too often, this packaging is left as on farm waste or sent to landfill. bagMUSTER will ensure these agricultural bags are collected and processed in an environmentally sustainable way onshore, here in Australia.
bagMUSTER has been designed by CropLife Australia following the extensive experience gained through the drumMUSTER and ChemClear™ programs, which have been in operation for almost 30 years through CropLife’s wholly owned stewardship organisation, Agsafe.
bagMUSTER is being developed as a hybrid program, taking the best and most suitable components from drumMUSTER and ChemClear™ to deliver an industry-led not-for-profit and fit-for-purpose stewardship solution for agricultural pesticide, seed and other farm input product bags.
Government partnerships will be crucial to ensure a viable and sustainable model is delivered for the benefit of Australia’s farmers when the pilot phase begins in 2022. Following the pilot phase, bagMUSTER will be delivered through an industry-funded not-for-profit model on a fee-for-service basis. This will mean minimised costs to farm supply chains.
CropLife Australia and our members are continuously adopting and promoting ethical and responsible practices right from discovery and development of agricultural products through to their use and the final disposal of associated waste. bagMUSTER shows that the members of both CropLife and the Australian Seed Federation have a deep commitment when it comes to a genuine whole-of-life-cycle approach to industry stewardship and playing their part in protecting the environment.